“Kinda wanna do more than watch a movie, baby girl,” I whisper in her ear before nipping at the lobe. My hands trail down, grabbing a handful of her ass and walking her back toward my bed. She’s wearing a short sundress, so when she falls back, it lifts, giving me a view of her pale pink panties.
“Anderson…” Her voice is breathy before my lips connect with hers again. My tongue dips inside as my hips thrust into hers. I’m already getting hard. Hooking my fingers under the waistband of her underwear, I start to pull them down before her hands stop me.
“I’m not really in the mood, Anderson. Can we just watch a movie instead?”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
So much for getting my mind off shit.
Chapter Four
Crew
Two Months Later
This day is fucking dragging. I’m nauseous as hell and my head is throbbing. I woke up late as shit, racing to class, and forgot to take anything beforehand to get me through. It’s fucking with me. Checking my phone, I can’t help but groan when I see there’s still thirty minutes before this class is over. I slept like shit last night, lying there and staring at the ceiling until finally falling asleep for only a few hours.
My first class on Thursdays starts at eight in the morning. It’s also my fullest day of school. Thank God I’m in my last class. My only class tomorrow was canceled at the last minute, so I’m driving down to Pullman tonight to hang out with Anderson for a long weekend.
Knowing that I get to see him is like a breath of fresh air. Although he’s been kind of weird over the last few months. I don’t know why. It started when he was home for spring break, but I didn’t want to pry. I’m hoping to get to the bottom of it this weekend. Pulling out my phone, I decide to thumb out a text to him.
Me: Hey, bro. I’ll be leaving for your place as soon as this class is over.
Anderson: Right on, see ya in a few hours. Drive safe.
Thankfully, my prof lets us out a few minutes early, and I hightail my ass to my car. My overnight bag is already in my trunk, allowing me to hit the road right away. I’ve got at least a four-hour drive ahead of me, maybe more, depending on traffic. Probably wasn’t the smartest idea to leave mid-day on a Thursday, but whatever.
Grabbing the baggie of pills out of my bag, I open it and take two from inside. I twist the cap off my water bottle, tossing them back and washing them down with a mouthful of room temperature water.
About an hour into my drive, my phone rings. It’s Anderson. Pressing the answer button, it connects through my Bluetooth. “’Sup?”
“Hey, where you at?”
“Aw, excited to see me?”
His gruff chuckle sounds through the speakers. “Yeah, where you at?”
“Just getting on the pass. There was hella traffic on 405.”
“Damn, sucks. Hey, Knox’s friend, Katie, is coming over tonight and Calina is coming with her. They’re going to make us dinner and we’re going to watch the Mariners game. That cool?”
“Why is Knox’s friend coming toyourhouse? Why not his house?”
“Knox is here too. Him and Aston are hardly ever apart anymore, dude. They take turns sleeping at each other’s houses.”
“Dope. That’s cool with me. I’ll probably miss dinner, depending on what time they cook. Be there around seven, most likely.”
“We normally don’t eat until later, so you’re good. Should be able to make it.”
“Right on. I’ll see ya then.” Hanging up with him, I run my hand down my face. Didn’t really want to hang out with his girlfriend, but meeting her was bound to happen. This silent grudge I hold against her is unfair—I don’t even know her, and I already hate her.
She can’t fucking take him from me.
I grind my molars together until pain radiates through my jaw. Red-hot anger flushes through me like a wave of fire. I toss back another two pills at the feeling, needing the mind-numbing high they bring me.Missed Callsby Mac Miller comes on, and its lyrics serve as a reminder of my fucked up mind. When me and Anderson were about twelve or thirteen, I don’t even know anymore, we would listen to this song over and over and over again. We drove his parents crazy with it, drove Aston crazy.
We didn’t care. It was our song. I can vividly recall one time in particular listening to this song with him and feeling like everything was changing. At least for me. Both of us were going through puberty, our voices growing deeper, bodies starting to transform. It was a summer day, and we were in his backyard, with our shirts off. His voice cracked during a part of the song, and we laughed our asses off, falling into the grass.
It was the first time I noticed the hair under his arms and the way his body seemed… different. I remember not being able to take my eyes off him, and the way my stomach felt fluttery when I watched him. The way I suddenly wanted to be close to him. Feel his skin touch mine. It was the very first time I questioned if I liked boys. And if I did, was it exclusive to Anderson? Was I feeling this way because we were so close and so I felt a different type of pull toward him than other boys?